All This Time, Back to You
by Nina of the Galaxy
Summary: Oliver manages to get himself in trouble in New York City and he insisted on local lawyers to help him as well as Laurel bailing him out. Little does he know that Laurel, Matt, and Foggy have met before.


"Who is this person we're supposed to meeting Foggy? And why couldn't our client just use us?" Matt asked, exasperated that they had to come all the way out to the airport to pick this person up.

Foggy shook his head even though he knew Matt couldn't see him. "Client wasn't real clear on that. Just an L. Lance from Starling City. She's apparently the only person he trusts with his life. And even though he likes us, because we're so charming, he wants her here too."

Matt chuckled. "Well, if Oliver Queen hadn't been dicking around and hitting on other people's girlfriends he might not be in this position. Seems he hasn't changed as much as people say he has." He said.

Foggy shrugged. "Whatever, I've got the sign. They should be rolling up any minute,"

He heard a door open and heels click. He heard her pick up her bag and roll it against the smooth polished floor and she looked for them. He heard her muscles contract into a smile. "Well, damn." She said.

And he knew that voice and he couldn't help but smiling himself.

"If it's not my favorite losers." She said as she stopped in front of them. "Blind Matt Murdock and literal puppy Foggy Nelson, long time no see. How'd you get roped into handling Ollie?" She asked them.

"Ollie?" Matt asked, eyebrow raised. "You mean, that Ollie?" He asked. The one she was mooning over. The dead boyfriend. He wasn't an idiot, but he wasn't up on their news. He had heard something about the man returning to the city he so loved. He assumed that they got back together, but she didn't seem so taken aback by Oliver's behavior or upset about it? The case was literally about him getting into a fight over a girl.

She nodded. "The very same. Your assistant said that he got himself into trouble and was looking for me?" She asked.

Foggy hugged her tightly, "Oh my god, the Dean, he never told us it was you. If Oliver had, I'm sure this one wouldn't have been as grumpy coming to pick you up," He said.

Laurel shook her head. "That's the worst nickname I've ever had by the way. Just so you know. That title remains squarely with you," She told Foggy and looked at Matt with a little humor, hearing about him grump about was cute. He almost had that college boy charm, he'd had five years ago.

Matt shook his his head. "I wasn't grumpy," He said. "Just tired." He tried to sooth things over. "So we should probably, go the office. Karen's probably feeding Oliver bad coffee."

"I'm sure Oliver is happy that he's getting coffee. His executive assistant, she wouldn't make him coffee. That was too beneath her. I mean I got why she didn't do it, but I'm sure having someone fawn over him is making him happy." She told them with a shy smile.

Foggy saw something between them. Something he'd seen back in their mock trial days too. Where she won. Only by a hair, but she won. She won against them and now he could understand why Oliver Queen wanted her on the case.

He led them all through the door and into the elevator where he saw Matt almost blush. Mat never blushed for any girl and this girl, one that had handed them their asses, that was the one he was a schoolboy for. He could only shake his head.

"Karen," He said as they stepped out of the elevator and towards the door to open it, "We're home and we have guests." He said.

Karen popped out of the kitchen and smiled as she broke away from Oliver.

Laurel shook her head. "In the pants, come on Ollie. Be a professional. You got good ones." She told him. "Karen, it's so nice to meet you. We talked on the phone," She said with a smile.

Karen nodded. "Yeah, well it's good to see what you look like in person. You're just as pretty as I imagined you. Not that I imagined you. I mean I did, but only in the professional capacity," She said and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Good ones?" Oliver asked. "How do we know?"

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her to explain. "Mock Trial. I won, but only on a technicality, after these guys threw out most of my evidence. I won it though," She said. "So we're all in good hands."

Matt never imagined that they would see her again. Well, in the flesh. They had seen her on the television, from Starling City a couple of times, it was almost as run over with crime and powerful people who didn't believe the rules applied to them as Hell's Kitchen, and it was never for very long.

They were done talking about the case. Karen and Oliver seemed to be getting better acquainted, which was fine, she was an adult, who knew exactly what his reputation was and Foggy had a date with Marci which he of coursed called 'looking for jobs' and so they were left alone.

"You want to come to my place?" He asked her.

She chuckled, god he loved her laughed, how it vibrated through the air. "Is this you hitting on me, Murdock?" She asked him.

"Depends." He said with that devil may care confident smile.

It baited her. "On what?" She asked.

"Are you still with Oliver Queen?" He asked.

She breathed in and he knew the answer, but he let her say it anyway. "No, and there's no one else," Her soft voice came out.

He nodded. "Then hell yes, this is me hitting on you." He told her. "God, you, I've wanted you, since I heard your voice at the evidence table," He said, breathe on her skin.

"You should have said something," She told him as she took his hand and took hold of her bag and lead them out of the office of Nelson and Murdock.

He wouldn't have, back then. And she wouldn't have come to him if he had. Over the moon with the guy who didn't deserve her. The guy who she wanted to show up when she got the award for winning mock trial. She was too in love with Oliver's memory to even compete back then. And he wouldn't have been able to keep her if he tried.

But now was entirely different.

He lead her to his apartment, up the elevator and through the dark hall, into the open concept of his kitchen and living room. "Sparse," She said, "But very you, Murdock." She told him as she took her hand off of the luggage, pushing it against the arm of the couch.

"You know," He chuckled, "You don't have to call me by my last name. I think we're past it even." He told her.

She reached up and took his glasses off and looked at his eyes, something that usually made him uncomfortable, because people were trying to see if they would respond to anything. They didn't. But they were normal eyes otherwise.

And then she did something that really surprised him, she touched his face. Not a normal touch, but a soft one. A loving touch. "You have the most beautiful brown eyes, Matt." She said. "God, I wish you could see them," She told him.

He blushed. "I remember what they look like. Although, it's been awhile since someone called them beautiful." He told her as he leaned into her touch. "You've lost people," He said.

She snorted and sat on his couch. "How'd you know?" She asked.

"Your touch," He said, "It has the mark of someone who has seen death. Someone who doesn't want to lose the things she touches. It's sweet," He told her. "Can I touch your face? It's okay if you say no. It can get a little intimate and we've only known each other for like five hours. Well, again anyway," He rambled as he sat down next to her.

That smile again, he could hear it. She said nothing, but took his wrist and guided his hand to her cheek. He felt her nice full cheeks first and smiled, she felt healthy, that was good. A nice strong jaw and sharp chin, but he also felt a bump, an all too familiar bump from getting sucker punched. She gasped and he took his hands away from there.

His hands drifted over her lips, high end lipstick perfectly applied and a define cupids bow. She had the kind of lips writers want their characters lines to come out of the mouths of. Unchapped and pouty.

Delicate nose with a straight slope and he smiled. "You haven't said one word, you can," He told her.

"There are no words," She told him. His fingers sought out her eyes, socket walls that were strong and perfectly round eyeballs. But also, pigment nicely if hastily applied to her long lashes and her eyelids. Her eyebrows were natural, but smaller than he would have expected. And all of the skin was perfect.

"You're so beautiful." He told her. "More beautiful than I remember."

It was her turn to blush. "I bet you say that to all the girls, Matt." She joked.

He shook his head. "Only you." He promised and he his hand went to her face again.

When they kissed, he could taste the watermelon lip gloss she had applied over the lipstick and he smelled her perfume, one she had been wearing for years. Her skin held the scent and god, it was intoxicating.

Her phone started playing "superheroes" by the script. He broke it and pointed to it, "Do you want to answer that?" He asked.

She turned the ringer off. "No, it's just Ollie. And if he wants something, he can call Foggy." There was a playfulness in her voice. He liked it, so much. "That okay, Murdock?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Oh, that's excellent Lance," He told her. "So superheroes, what's the story there?" He asked with an easy smile.

She chuckled. "It's a joke thing. You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," She told him. "Besides, do you really want to discuss our client and my ex-boyfriend?" She asked him.

He shook his head and leaned in and kissed her again. "Definitely not," He told her. After a moment, he turned to her, "So do you want something to drink?" He asked.

"Coke if you have it," She told him.

He nodded. He did. "Yeah. They're not cold." He told her, "Normally, a girl in my apartment would ask for some wine."

She shook her head. "One year sober," She said, glum.

He brought her the coke and he held her by the waist and put his forehead on hers. "Death. Addiction. You've lived more in the five years we've been away from each other some people live in their whole lives," He said quietly and kissed her neck.

She giggled, a cute little sound where his breathe tickled her skin. She put her coke on his coffee table and lead them to the couch where they sat in comfortable silence, taking in each other's skin with their fingers.

Till there was a rap on the door.

When that happened, they reluctantly stood up and he walked them toward the door, her back to his front. He opened the door and heard a gasp and a chuckle.

"Should have known." Foggy said. "You always get the pretty ones." He told Matt. "You want to come out for drinks?" He asked.

Matt shook his head. "Laurel doesn't drink." He told Foggy. "However, I thought maybe we might like to go to dinner?"

"Oh no," Foggy said. "I'm not going out with you and a girl, alone to dinner. That's already bad ju. And I'm not about to be at a table with googly eyes unless I'm making 'em okay? And you and the Dean would most definitely be making googlies. So no." He asked them. "I'll just see you at the office, eight AM, so we can go over all of the facts?"

Laurel nodded and Matt closed the door. "I don't really feel like going out," He said.

Laurel grinned like someone who had just caught prey. "Good," She said. "Because I don't want to either."


End file.
